Sample analyzers are used to measure components which are contained in biological samples such as urine or blood collected from a patient, and such analyzers are used daily in the field of clinical examinations in order to assist users to conduct diagnosis of illness and monitoring of medical treatment.
The amount of a sample required for analysis by the sample analyzer is stipulated beforehand in the sample analyzer, and this required amount or more must be collected from the patient.
In the case of infants, babies or children, and seriously ill patients, it may be difficult to collect the required amount of sample.
It is known that analysis can be performed using less than the ordinary amount of sample (hereinafter referred to as “small amount sample”). For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 11-183472 discloses a method referred to as “capillary measurement” in which a user prepares a dilute sample of a small amount sample collected from a patient, and measures the dilute sample in the measurement section of a sample analyzer.
Disadvantages arise, however, in the capillary measurement disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 11-183472 due to the labor involved in manually preparing the dilute sample, and the difficulty in obtaining adequate measurement accuracy which is affected by variations in the dilution operation.